Write to Z-Buffer

OpenGL OpenGL: Basic Coding
1

Hi,

I am an OpenGL newbie and was looking at way(s) to write to the Z-Buffer. I can read the values using glReadPixel, but can I write to the buffer and bind a window to it? If yes, how ?

Thanks!

Atul

2

You write to the depth buffer by rendering primitives with glDepthMask(GL_TRUE) (the default). If you don’t want to render to the color buffer(s) at the same time you can use glColorMask() to turn that off.

I don’t understand what you are asking for with “… and bind a window to it?”.

3

Thanks for the reply carsten! I am sorry for not being clear. Let me try and explain what exactly am I trying to achieve here. I want to render 2 OpenGL windows with simple figures (e.g spheres), combine the Z-buffers of both into a single one and then render the two spheres using this new Z-buffer in new window. So, that is where that ‘bind a window to it (i.e. the new, combined Z-buffer)’ comes into the picture.

Hope I was clear this time!

Thanks.

Atul

4

You can use glDrawPixels to write to the depth buffer if you use a compatibility profile. Otherwise you’ll have to create a shader that reads the depth value from a texture and outputs to gl_fragDepth.

In your case that shader could read both depth textures and do the combining (e.g. take the minimum of both values) on the fly.

5

Okay! Thanks a lot, mbentrup.

Atul

6

Hi mbentrup,

I was able to read the z-buffer values of the two windows I had created. But when I use glDrawPixels to set the z buffer for the 3rd window I get some weird artifacts (pic attached). Basically, I tried something like this :

[b]glClear(GL_COLOR_BUFFER_BIT | GL_DEPTH_BUFFER_BIT);
glDrawPixels(500, 500, GL_DEPTH_COMPONENT, GL_FLOAT, z_buffer_combined);
glutSolidSphere(1.0, 20, 16); //sphere 1
   glPushMatrix();
   glTranslatef (1.f, 1.f, 1.f); //translated so that they're not concentric
   glutSolidSphere(0.5, 20, 16); //sphere 2
glPopMatrix();

[/b]

Why is this happening?

Thanks,
Atul

7

You may be getting a precision problem. You could use multiple render buffers and collect glFragCoord.z from the first 2 windows into textures rather than reading the depth buffer. The depth buffers are typically 24bits whereas a float texture is 32bits